Ottumwa, IA—The Marshalltown Community College men's basketball team suffered its first defeat of the year, dropping a 104-79 contest to No. 13 nationally ranked College of Southern Idaho on day one of the Reed Overhead Doors Classic at Indian Hills Community College. Raheim Holloway (St. Louis, MO/Jennings) tied his career-high with 17 points on the day to lead the Tigers (1-1).
The Golden Eagles entered the game ranked No. 13 in the NJCAA Division I preseason poll. CSI opened up the game on a 6-0 run and held the Tigers scoreless for the first three minutes of the game. MCC was able to control the offensive glass in the first half to create second chance opportunities but failed to capitalize. CSI built a 10 point lead at 23-13 and continued to pull away with solid shooting from the three-point line.
Terrell Clyburn (Romulus, MI/Romulus) provided a spark off the bench for the Tigers in the first half. Holloway contributed 11 points in the first 20 minutes to lead the Tigers as MCC went into the locker room trailing 43-31. Merdic Green (Levittown, PA/Harry S. Truman) chipped in six points in the first half.
MCC cut the deficit to eight points to open the second half as the Tigers scored the first two buckets. The Tigers got to the free throw line early on in the second half as MCC reached the bonus just over five minutes into the half. Mike Rodriguez (Boston, MA/Redemption Christian Academy) came off the bench to hit 4-5 shots from the charity stripe. Rodriguez provided big minutes in the second half as Holloway got into foul trouble. The freshman finished the day with 11 second half points.
The Golden Eagles were able to stop any chance of a run from MCC as CSI built its lead to 22, 77-55 at the 11:23 mark and closed out the day reaching the 100-point plateau for the third straight game. With the win, the Golden Eagles improved to 3-0 on the year.
Jamal Gatali (Toronto, ONT/Downsview) finished with 14 points for MCC, knocking down one three-point attempt to beat the buzzer at the end of the first half. Troidell Carter (Lilburn, GA/Meadowcreek) tallied 11 points on the night.
MCC returns to Ottumwa tomorrow afternoon to take on Mid Michigan Community College for day two of the tournament at Indian Hills. Tipoff is set for 4:30 PM.
